Hearing in Jayhawk Racing lawsuit against city of Topeka rescheduled

The Shawnee County District Court has rescheduled an October hearing for a lawsuit against the city of Topeka seeking more than $4 million in damages for former Heartland Park Topeka owner Jayhawk Racing LLC.

The hearing, originally scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 5, has been moved to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 27. Judge Evelyn Wilson will preside.

The lawsuit, filed in June, alleges the city breached a contract with Jayhawk Racing by not faithfully following through with an agreement to purchase the park and the debt assumed by Jayhawk Racing and Heartland Park LLC, which also is named as a plaintiff. It also claims the city billed Jayhawk Racing for stormwater utility services for more than 12 years, even though the services were not rendered. The three-count lawsuit seeks a total of more than $4.027 million in damages.

The city later filed motions seeking dismissal of the first two counts — those seeking $3,846,009 plus interest related to the breach of contract claims. Attorneys from Overland Park-based Lathrop & Gage LLP argued citizens had a right to elect new council members and change the city’s plans for Heartland Park Topeka.

The city has so far paid Lathrop & Gage $24,779 for defending the lawsuit. Legal services are billed every two months, and city spokeswoman Aly Van Dyke said another bill is expected at the end of this month.

The contract in question stipulated the city must make “good faith reasonable efforts” to issue STAR bonds and purchase the park for as much as $5.5 million. The contract was in full force until Aug. 7, 2015, when CoreFirst Bank & Trust filed deeds for the property, but the city stopped making good faith efforts to purchase the park months earlier, the lawsuit contends.

Voters in April 2015 elected four new council members, and the council subsequently voted 6-4 on May 5, 2014, to reject city manager Jim Colson’s plan to finance the purchase with $5.5 million in STAR bonds.

It is unclear from court documents why the hearing was rescheduled, but Jayhawk Racing’s attorney, Wes Weathers, filed a more than 160-page response to the city’s motion to dismiss in late August.

In the response, Weathers argued the memorandum of understanding to purchase Heartland Park remained binding even after new council members were elected.